Alberta NDP pushes for protections for health-care workers on National Day of Mourning

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Alberta's official opposition is calling on the Kenney government to do more to protect health-care workers as the province recognizes the sacrifices of 128 Albertans who died on the job in 2021 during this year's National Day of Mourning.

The Alberta NDP says according to information from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, 10 health-care workers in Alberta died from COVID-19 since Jan. 14.

More than 26,000 Alberta health-care workers in that same period contracted the disease.

The statistics are shocking when compared to the same figures from Ontario and B.C., the NDP says.

"Ontario has nearly four times the population of Alberta, but recorded only about 4,000 more health-care workers contracted COVID-19. B.C. has a larger population than Alberta but had less than half as many COVID-19 cases among health-care workers, at a total of 10,960," the NDP said in a release.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said the numbers illustrate how irresponsible the Kenney government's decisions have been.

"It did not have to be this way," he said, saying the health-care system was also put under extreme strain earlier this year.

"Yet health-care workers filled in the gaps of the UCP’s absent leadership to heroically serve Albertans."

'LET IT RIP' APPROACH FAILED

Meanwhile, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) is also recognizing the sacrifices made by the Alberta workers who died in 2021 and says more needs to be done to prevent future deaths related to COVID-19.

"Despite all the government rhetoric about getting 'back to normal' and 'learning to live with it,' COVID continues to be a major health hazard for Albertans, especially in indoor environments, including workplaces," said AFL president Gil McGowan in a release.

McGowan says the average of nine Albertans dying from COVID-19 per day and more than 1,000 people in hospital being treated for symptoms are unacceptable.

"(We cannot) continue to ignore the fact that COVID is not just another respiratory infection but, rather, a multi-system disease that can cause permanent damage to internal organs, including the lungs, heart, liver and brain.

"In the same way that we shouldn't accept current high rates of death, we also shouldn't accept the high and growing rates of disability that will come our way should be continue to downplay the seriousness of COVID."

Instead of the provincial government's "let it rip" approach, McGowan suggests an alternative called the "hierarchy of controls".

Under that strategy, a series of steps are performed to limit the risk of hazards in the workplace, such as COVID-19.

"It starts by asking: can the hazard be eliminated from the work environment? If it can, great. But if it can't, the hierarchy of controls approach then goes on to ask 'can the hazard by mitigated through engineering interventions or by administrative rules?' Finally, it makes a commitment to providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers to augment the engineering and administrative controls."

WORKERS NEED MORE SICK LEAVE

One of the ways the government can help support the "hierarchy of controls" approach to COVID-19 is through introducing legislation and procedures to protect workers.

One piece of that legislation is an extension of paid sick leave for all workers, something that both the Calgary and District Labour Council and AFL support.

"COVID continues to highlight the need for paid sick time," said Alexander Shevalier, president of the Calgary and District Labour Council.

Current laws allow for 10 sick days per year for federally-regulated workers, but 58 per cent of Canadians don't have access to paid sick leave through their employer, the council says.

Shevalier wants the Kenney government to introduce or expand paid sick leave for workers to make sure if Albertans are sick, they can afford to stay home.

When asked about the data referenced by the Alberta NDP, Health Minister Jason Copping didn't have anything to say about it, but added they do track the number of health-care workers who get sick due to transmission at work as opposed to outside of work.

"The vast majority, 90 per cent, it's outside of work. Seven per cent of cases are done inside of work."

He thanked all health-care workers for their tireless efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I want to thank management and AHS for ensuring that we have the highest standards in providing protections for our health-care workers."